Paper short abstract:

I argue that In the 18th- early 20th centuries Nyamwezi men built a ‘cosmopolitan masculinity’ based upon displaying connections with elsewhere. In contrast to Swahili cosmopolitanism, this has since been denied, in favour of a local and national identity.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I argue that from the mid-eighteenth century exceptional men from Unyamwezi (western Tanzania) crafted a new form of male adulthood - a “cosmopolitan masculinity” - based upon mobile, high-risk labour and displaying connections with societies on the coast and in the interior. In the decades before the imposition of colonial rule, this cosmopolitanism became both available to and necessary for Nyamwezi men in general, through trade, travel, and violent labour. In the early colonial period Nyamwezi men had the desire and ability to pursue labour opportunities beyond the borders of German East Africa, thereby restricting the capacity for action of the colonial state, which relied upon their labour. As I show, the concept of cosmopolitanism can be useful for understanding intra-continental mobilities, not just transcontinental connections.

Exploring Nyamwezi men’s cosmopolitanism – and the decline of Nyamwezi claims to a distinctly cosmopolitan identity in the twentieth century – also raises questions about connections and distinctions with Swahili cosmopolitanism. As I show, in the context of Nyamwezi men’s uncontested Africanness, three different groups increasingly came to define Nyamwezi men as ‘local’ as opposed to cosmopolitan. Firstly, colonial officials saw the Nyamwezi as an inherently local ‘tribe’, at risk from runaway modernization. Secondly, Swahili coastal and island inhabitants saw themselves as cosmopolitan, connected to Muslim civilization, and distinct from the ‘barbaric’ Nyamwezi whom they often lived or worked alongside. Finally, in the context of nationalism, Nyamwezi men and women increasingly cast themselves as locals and as Tanganyikans / Tanzanians.

Paper short abstract:

Madagascar exhibits characteristics of landlocked country, despite being the largest island in Africa. This paradox is the result of a longue-durée path evolution, in which local factors, regional trade mechanisms and global affaires constantly interact to produce new human geographic structure.

Paper long abstract:

Being the fourth largest island in the world and the largest island in Africa, Madagascar has the longest coastline among all African countries. It also holds a seemingly important geographic position in the Indian Ocean. Counter-intuitively, however, Madagascar's coast has long been underdeveloped and the country is peripheral in global maritime network and economic system. Moreover, Madagascar exhibits the characteristics of a landlocked country - its economic, political, and cultural center is located on its central highlands.

Through my research, I found that this strange yet intriguing human geographic feature is the result of a long historical path-evolution that began to emerge before and during the Age of Discovery, and was further solidified by the slave trade and colonial activities. This path-evolution has established the inland dominance over coastal regions in Madagascar and led the big island to its current landlocked situation. Moreover, it is still exerting influence on the country’s development today.

The paper presented here focuses on one period of this long evolution - the slave trade. During this period, the small-scale slave trade in the southwest Indian Ocean interacted with the cultural system of Madagascar’s inland kingdom (Imerina) under the particular geographic conditions of the island. The whole process constituted a kind of dissipative mechanism which contributed to the formation of a Madagascar dominated by its inland.

It is expected that the paper provides a new case to rethink the relationship between inland/hinterland and coast in Eastern Africa, especially how local and external factors are entangled.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses transnational connections between colonial Zanzibar and Indian Ocean countries; focusing on the movement of medicines to understand how historical links established during colonial Zanzibar influence the medicine landscape in present-day Zanzibar.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on transnational connections between colonial Zanzibar and Indian Ocean countries that later formed the social fabric of present-day Zanzibar. At the individual level, these transnational connections are continued, for generations, by private and family-owned businesses. For example, although few in number, Indian traders are among the biggest wholesale suppliers and distributors of pharmaceuticals in both Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, the notable names being: Mansoor Daya Pharmacy and Shamshuddin Pharmacy. This paper is part of my doctoral research proposal that will employ archival data, oral histories, and family stories to understand how historical links established during colonial Zanzibar continue to influence the medicine landscape in present-day Zanzibar. The objective of my doctoral study is to examine the continuity of historical linkages in influencing how medicine, as a commodity, circulates and also how the circulation of medicines is regulated in present-day Zanzibar.

Paper short abstract:

The Rufiji River delta interrelates the Indian Ocean timber trade, the spiritual significance of trees and movements for decolonization. This paper examines oral history accounts of Iranian sailors, shedding light on their participation in the political and spiritual landscape of the delta.

Paper long abstract:

Simba Uranga, the Rufiji River delta in present-day Tanzania, is where notable historical events unfolded: the delta was the first colonial nature reserve to be declared in Africa. It was the place where the Maji Maji Rebellion took root, inspiring inter-ethnic decolonialization movements all across the continent (Sunseri 2003). The belligerent showdown between the British and the German warship Königsberg in World War I happened here. And it was the site for the “best mangrove poles in the world” (Villiers 1948: 414).

A semiotic relationship connected timber-producing mainland mangrove forests with port cities along the old Indian Ocean trading routes. People in Simba Uranga cut the timber, sailors transported it for construction and shipbuilding to the Persian Gulf (Kaplan 2015). Songs, spirits and slaves were hidden under the mangrove poles. From Iranian sailor’s anecdotal stories, we learn about the cooperation between Tanzanians and Persian Gulf sailors for circumventing colonial conservation legislation. We get a glimpse of the participation of sailors in movements for decolonialization and independence. We learn about the racialized violence of the slave trade that continued long after formal abolition. And, if we pay close attention, we can see transnational Zar spirits at play.

Kaplan, Marion (2015): So Old a Ship. Twilight of the Arab Dhow. Wiltshire: Moho Books.

Sunseri, Thaddeus (2003): Reinterpreting a Colonial Rebellion: Forestry and Social Control in German East Africa, 1874-1915. In: Environmental History 8 (3), 430-451.

Villiers, Alan (1948): Some Aspects of the Arab Dhow Trade. In: Middle East Journal 2 (4), 399-416.